Kings and Contractors Meet To Talk Future Partnership Opportunities

More than 200 contractors and local businesses will meet with Sacramento Kings and Turner Construction at Sacramento City Hall Thursday night. The team and businesses will talk about bidding opportunities for the downtown arena project.

Kings Vice President Kunal Merchant says much of the meeting will focus on the next phase of the project.

"We have a lot of activities that are just related to taking down the existing structure at the Downtown Plaza Mall and setting the stage for the structure and new structure," he says. "Part of that is knocking things down, we have materials that we have to safely remove, a lot of other things of that nature."

There are three more meetings scheduled with the Kings and local contractors between now and November. Merchant says the topics will change as the arena project progresses.

The Kings have set a goal of at least 60-percent local business and 20-percent small business participation in the arena project.

Bob reports on all things northern California and Nevada. His coverage of police technology, local athletes, and the environment has won a regional Associated Press and several Edward R. Murrow awards. Read Full Bio